Guard for a hanger assembly

ABSTRACT

Persons are prevented from being accidentally jabbed or snagged by the outwardly projecting arm of a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;Pegboard hook&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; by a guard which overlies the arm and shields the outer end thereof. The outer end portion of the guard is adapted to flex upwardly relative to the arm to enable articles to be easily placed on and removed from the arm.

United States Patent 1191 Valiulis [73] Assignee: Southern Imperial, Inc., Rockford,

22 Filed: Aug. 5, 1974 21 App]. No.: 494,813

[52] US. Cl. 211/57; 248/223; 248/D1G. 3 [51] Int. Cl. A47F 7/00 [-58] Field of Search 211/7, 8, 9, 54, 57, 59, 211/100, 124, 171; 248/223, DIG. 3, 301, 303

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 855,586 6/1907 Patterson 211/8 1,687,129 10/1928 Hcnninger 211/124 X 1,704,007 3/1929 Laidlaw 21 1/59 X 1,938,370 12/1933 Bodkin 248/D1G. 3 X 2,164,514 7/1939 Goldstein 211/54 UX 2.950821 8/1960 Hoofer 21 1/54 3,189,185 6/1965 Grasso 211/59 3,452,954 7 1969 Lucietto et a1. 2423/1310. 3 x 3,483,995 12/1969 Larson 211 57 3,534,864 10/1970 Larson 3,815,756 6/1974 Cox 211 57 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 714,703 9/1954 United Kingdom 211/59 258,524 11 /1967 Austria 248/D1G. 3

Primary Examir z'rMarion Parsons, .I r.

Assistant ExaminerThomas J. Holko Attorney, Agent, or F irm-Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann, Ltd.

57 ABSTRACT Persons areiprelvented from being accidentally jabbed or snagged bythe outwardly projecting arm of a Pegboard hook by "a guard which overlies the arm and shields the outer end thereof. The outer end portion of the guard is adapted to flex upwardly relative to the arm to enable articles to be easily placed on and removed from the arm.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures U.S, Patent Oct. 14, 1975 -GUARD FOR A HANGER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is involved with a hanger assembly for supporting articles on a perforated panel of the type commonly referred to as a Pegboard." Such an assembly includes an elongated, rodlike hanger arm, often called a hook," adapted to project outwardly from the panel and usually adapted to be removably attached to the panel by a mounting bracket having a pair of horizontally spaced fingers which extendthrough holes in the panel. 1

.SUMMARY'OF THE INVENTION The general aim of the present invention is to provide a new and improved guard for a hanger assembly of the above character, the guard reducing the danger of injury, and particularly eye or facial injury, to a person who might accidentally run into the hanger assembly and otherwise be jabbed or snagged by the rod-like hanger arm.

A further object is to provide a guard which effectively shields theouter end of the hanger arm while still enabling articles to be easily placed on and removed from the arm.

Another object is to provide a guard which may be quickly and easily attached to and detached from the hanger assembly.

The invention also resides in the relatively simple and inexpensive construction of the guard and in the coaction between the guard and the fingers of the hanger assembly to enable easy and yet effective attachment of the guard to the assembly.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a hanger assembly attached to a perforated panel and equipped with a new and improved guard incorporating the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the hanger assembly and guard shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sections taken substantially along the lines 3-3 and 44, respectively, of FIG. 2. In FIG. 4, the parts of the hanger assembly are shown in phantom lines in order to enable clearer illustration of the parts of the guard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is shown as being associated with a hanger assembly having a generally horizontal hanger arm 11 for supporting one or more articles 13 from a panel or Pegboard 14 of the type formed with a series of vertically spaced and horizontally extending rows of holes 15. In this instance, the articles have been illustrated as being bags within which merchandise is contained. The upper end portion of each bag is formed with a hole 16 to enable the bag to be hung from the arm 11.

Herein, the hanger arm 11 is a metal rod-like element having a length of about ten inches and a diameter of approximately 3/16 of an inch. The outer end portion or tip 17 of the arm is inclined upwardly through an angle of about 30 so as to keep the bags 13 from sliding horizontally off of the arm.

Depending from the inner end of the hanger arm 11 is'a prong 19 (FIG. 3) which is fitted within a bracket 20 for attaching the assembly 10 releasably to the panel 14. In this instance, the bracket is molded of relatively rigid plastic such as polypropylene or Delrin and includes a generally rectangular plate member 21 normally disposed in an upright plane and adapted to lie flat against the outer face of the panel 14. Molded integrally with the upper end portion of the plate and projecting inwardly from the inner face thereof are two fingers or horns 23, each horn having a horizontal portion located adjacent the plate and merging gradually with an upwardly projecting vertical portion. By turning the plate 21 to a horizontal position with the ends of the horns pointing toward the panel 14 and by moving the plate edgewise, the normally vertical portions of the horns may be inserted into two horizontally spaced holes 15 in one of the horizontally extending rows of holes formed in the panel. Thereafter, the plate may be swung downwardly and toward the panel to cause the horizontal portions to enter the holes and to cause the vertical portions to engage and interlock with the rear face of the panel just above the holes.

An upright boss 25 (FIGS. 1 and 3) of generally semicircular cross-section is molded integrally with the outer side of the plate 21, the boss tapering downwardly and having an upper end located flush with the upper edge of the plate. A vertically extending hole 26 of circular cross-section is formed through the center of the boss and opens out of the upper end of the boss to define a socket for receiving the prong 19 of the hanger arm 1 1. As an alternative to using the separate bracket 20, a U-shaped bracket (not shown) may be welded to the prong 19, such a bracket having a pair of L-shaped fingers similar to the fingers 23 and positioned to straddle the prong.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a unique guard 30 which overlies the hanger arm 11 and shields the outer end portion 17 thereof so as to prevent a person from being poked in the eye or face by the arm and suffering a severe injury. In spite of the protection afforded by the guard, it may be conveniently moved to a position which enables articles to be easily hung on the arm and it presents virtually no obstacle to the easy removal of articles from the arm.

More specifically, the guard 30 comprises a onepiece member molded of resiliently flexible plastic such as vinyl and formed with an upright sheet 31 by which the guard is detachably secured to the hanger assembly 10. For this purpose, the sheet 31 is formed with a pair of horizontally spaced slots 33 (FIG. 4) which open downwardly out of the lower edge of the sheet and which are adapted to telescope snugly but releasably over the horizontal portions of the fingers 23 of the bracket 20. When the guard is in place on the assembly, a portion 34 of the sheet is located between the fingers 23 and is sandwiched between the plate 21 and the outer face of the panel (see FIG. 3) so as to help hold the guard in position.

Formed integrally with the upper margin of the sheet 33 and extending outwardly therefrom is an elongated strip 35 which is about two inches wide at its inner end and which tapers slightly upon progressing outwardly. The strip is centered with respect to the hanger arm 11 and is spaced upwardly from the arm so as to accommodate the upper end portions of the bags 13. Three depressed and transversely spaced ribs 36 are formed in the strip to add stiffness to the strip.

To shield the tip 17 of the arm 11, the guard 30 includes a tongue 40 which is integral with the outer end of the strip 35 and which enshrouds the top and sides of the tip. The tongue is inclined downwardly and outwardly from the arm 11 and is formed with a raised bubble 41 whose top, sides and front shield the top, sides and front, respectively, of the tip. The bubble is generally triangular in cross-section and its upper outer corner engages the tip 17 to help keep the strip 35 spaced above the arm 11.

As a result of the tongue 40, a person hitting the hanger arm 11 head-on will not be jabbed by the outer end of the tip 17 but instead will encounter the relatively broad front surface of the bubble 41. Accordingly, there is little likelihood of the person suffering a severe eye or facial injury. The sides of the bubble define wings broad which prevent a person from being injured by hittingthe side of the tip and thus it is not likely that' a person walking past the arm will be snagged by the tip and injured.

When slipping bags 13 onto the arm 1 1, one may gain easy access to the tip 17 simply by raising the tongue 40 upwardly. By virtue of the flexibility of the strip 35, the tongue and the outer end portion of the strip will hinge upwardly when the tongue is lifted and then will spring back downwardly when the tongue is released. Thus, the bags may be placed on the arm in an easy manner. It is even easier to remove a bag. As the bag is slid outwardly along the arm, it will engage the downwardly and outwardly inclined lower surface of the tongue and automatically cam the tongue and the outer end portion of the strip upwardly to enable the bag to be slipped off of the end of the arm, the tongue then springing back downwardly. Thus, the guard presents virtually no impediment to the easy removal of bags from the arm.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention brings to the art a new and improved guard 30 which effectively shields the arm 11 of the hanger assembly while still allowing articles 13 to easily be placed on and removed from the arm. The guard may be easily installed on or removed from the hanger assembly 10 while the latter is attached to the panel 14 but, when installed, the guard is held firmly in place on the hanger assembly.

I claim as my invention:

l. A hanger assembly having a generally horizontally extending hanger arm and having a pair of horizontally spaced and horizontally extending fingers at the inner end of said arm for attaching the arm to a perforated panel, and a guard for said hanger assembly, said guard comprising an upright sheet formed with a pair of downwardly opening slots sized to slip downwardly over and slidably receive said fingers to attach said guard removably to said hanger assembly, an elongated and generally horizontal strip having its inner end joined to the upper end of said sheet and projecting outwardly from said sheet in overlying relation with said hanger arm, and a tongue on the outer end of said strip and extending in front of said hanger arm to shield the outer end of the arm, said strip being capable of hinging upwardly relative to said sheet to enable said tongue to move upwardly from said hanger arm and permit articles to be hung on or removed from said arm from the outer end thereof.

2."The invention defined in claim 1 in which said sheet, said strip and said tongue are formed integrally with one another and are molded of resiliently flexible plastic, said strip being capable of hinging upwardly relative to said sheet by virtue of the flexibility of said plastic.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 in which said tongue includes sides which shield the sides of the outer end portion of said hanger arm.

4. The invention defined in claim 3 in which said strip is spaced upwardly from the upper side of said hanger arm, said tongue engaging the outer end of said hanger arm to keep the outer end portion of said strip spaced upwardly from the outer end portion of said hanger arm.

5. The invention defined in claim 1 in which said hanger assembly includes a member projecting downwardly from said fingers and disposed generally perpendicular to said hanger arm, said sheet having a portion located below and between said fingers and disposed face-to-face with the inner side of said member. 6. The invention defined in claim 1 in which said tongue extends downwardly and outwardly from the outer end of said strip, said tongue being formed with an upwardly extending bubble which enshrouds the sides, top and front of the outer end of said arm.

7. The invention defined in claim 6 in which said bubble is substantially triangular in cross-section. 

1. A hanger assembly having a generally horizontally extending hanger arm and having a pair of horizontally spaced and horizontally extending fingers at the inner end of said arm for attaching the arm to a perforated panel, and a guard for said hanger assembly, said guard comprising an upright sheet formed with a pair of downwardly opening slots sized to slip downwardly over and slidably receive said fingers to attach said guard removably to said hanger assembly, an elongated and generally horizontal strip having its inner end joined to the upper end of said sheet and projecting outwardly from said sheet in overlying relation with said hanger arm, and a tongue on the outer end of said strip and extending in front of said hanger arm to shield the outer end of the arm, said strip being capable of hinging upwardly relative to said sheet to enable said tongue to move upwardly from said hanger arm and permit articles to be hung on or removed from said arm from the outer end thereof.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1 in which said sheet, said strip and said tongue are formed integrally with one another and are molded of resiliently flexible plastic, said strip being capable of hinging upwardly relative to said sheet by virtue of the flexibility of said plastic.
 3. The invention defined in claim 2 in which said tongue includes sides which shield the sides of the outer end portion of said hanger arm.
 4. The invention defined in claim 3 in which said strip is spaced upwardly from the upper side of said hanger arm, said tongue engaging the outer end of said hanger arm to keep the outer end portion of said strip spaced upwardly from the outer end portion of said hanger arm.
 5. The invention defined in claim 1 in which said hanger assembly includes a memBer projecting downwardly from said fingers and disposed generally perpendicular to said hanger arm, said sheet having a portion located below and between said fingers and disposed face-to-face with the inner side of said member.
 6. The invention defined in claim 1 in which said tongue extends downwardly and outwardly from the outer end of said strip, said tongue being formed with an upwardly extending bubble which enshrouds the sides, top and front of the outer end of said arm.
 7. The invention defined in claim 6 in which said bubble is substantially triangular in cross-section. 